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Interview with Pharrell Douglas

Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?

I grew up in Canada in my early years before moving back to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. I think what really influenced me to write was that I had a lot of questions about my life and mother that I had bottled up inside. You see, my parents separated prior to me moving from Canada and I hadn't met my mother since. We talked on the phone a few times but that was that. After seventh grade, I had a long quiet holiday in front of me and writing was a great way to get my mind off my past. I had never written a story before that and I didn't even know how to. I just did. And right now I'm happy for that.

When did you first start writing?

I first started writing after seventh grade. It was because of Jealousy. Our English teacher stood at the door of the MPH, giving us her last wishes as we entered to do our English finals. My friend Salim was in front of him. She told him he'd do well, especially in Creative Writing because she knew he was creative. At that instant something inside of me started reacting to that. It said, "Hey. I'm creative too! I know it."So after the exams I head home and decide I'm going to write a story this vacation. When I started I realized I had no bloody idea in the world how to write a story. My first book was really bad. I copied everything from the movie Eragon. I've probably thrown it away. Lucky for me, I didn't stop there. I tried to write another, almost gave up on the 3rd page but went on. A year later I completed my first novel. It was High School Anonymous. Never published. Only Andrew has read it.

What's the story behind your latest book?

My latest book, Horizon features Ivey, a normal teenage girl with a very un-normal life. Her mother is constantly making her move and shift schools. As Ivey grows up she realizes there's something wrong about it all and she decides to escape her mom at the airport. And that's where the fun starts.

What really inspired this story, apart from the Transformers movie, I am Number four series, We're Alive Podcast and the hit movie Avatar, is the thesis of identity. That's what Ivey, my protagonist and even myself struggle with. Finding a clear identity of who I am. The same goes for the character. My life has had many twists and turns and unanswered questions which is also the same for Ivey. It's hard to know who you are with a lot of family and life drama attacking you. This book was a great escape for me and a channel to express my deepest thoughts.

What do your fans mean to you?

My fans are just amazing! They're my rock. They are very much part of my work too. In fact I feel like they own the story as much as I do. I let them help me choose the cover and description for my book. Beyond that they are beautiful and such supportive human beings. They are so remarkable and I couldn't do without them! Fans. I love them so much!! I'm dedicating my email list to be fine ground for me and my fans to communicate the best we can.

Everyday I've got something big to do. If not bigger. I'm reaching for the stars, tackling one dream at a time. My goal is beating in my heart. That's all the inner motivation I need.

When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?

Watching movies, alternative music, a lot of football and of course reading a book that blows me away.

How do you discover the ebooks you read?

I find new ebooks while browsing the iBookstore, goodreads, googling, finding print books in the book store that also have eBook versions and what else... talking about books!

Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?

Yes. It was titled Dragon Rider, 99% of it was copied from the movie Eragon and it sucked so bad I threw it away.

What is your writing process?

Live...Dream...Idea...Idea evolves over weeks or under 2 hours...Plotting the story...Research...Bang out one chapter every day...Novel is done in 4-6 weeks.

But when I'm actually planning to write. I take a few minutes to visualize the entire chapter, imagine it as clearly as I can until I'm excited and write it down. Two hours later I'm done for the day.

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I think the first books I saw where Dr. Seuss books when I was a kid. The weird characters in the book produced my first nightmare and closet monster ever, being a huge orange-furred monster who comes out of the grate to bite my cheeks off.

Ivey escapes her mother at the airport only to be captured by a secret sector from NASA and learns that the fate of human survival lies within her very hands.
In a world that exists 65 million years back, she is known as a Zartan-the fifth answer, a beacon of hope before the millions of meteorites racing for the earth.
Horizon is a war of fate and decision and the grit of your next teenage heroine